Whack! Uh oh, that’s not good…

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Not the sound you ever want to hear from your guitar!

Video with the Euphonic & String parts to “Like A Child” c. 2018 Rhon Van Erman

Well, it’s been an interesting few weeks to say the least. Man, I was truckin’ along (yes, I’m older) with my BluesGrass, 80’s riff induced version of “Amazing Grace” and on the last day of rehearsing some final changes, it happened. In my enthusiasm of the sound of the Hymn I got up fast from the couch and started to hold my guitar high in an old stage move I did when I was on the road and “Whack”….  time stood still….that was really stupid Rhon….what were you thinking? I had banged the back of my guitar with my knee. “Well dude, you really did it now”, I mentally beat up on myself for what seemed like an eternity and I looked it over and to my surprise didn’t notice any visible signs of damage. Well, that’s a relief. So on I went and recording was tomorrow, so I thought I was good.

The next day I recorded a few takes and got a good one only to hear some distortion right at the end of the track. Hmm, wonder if I just had to much signal? I listened back, pulled down the fader and there it was…the thing I’d craved for all my guitars when I was 12 years old…Distortion!…but, this wasn’t the type of distortion I wanted any part of. It was just plain hideous. Now what?

Some things work themselves out in the long run and the plans we make don’t always turn out the way we wanted. Honestly, as a Christian I know this and need to be humble to it, but as an “A” personality and “let’s get it done” type, I thought I had done something wrong or God was shutting me down. That’s the problem with my way before His way.
So after a bath in frustration I forged on. I had purchased some digital samples back in November of ’17 and had been wanting to get to this sound called the “Soft Piano” or “Felt Piano”. This was my chance! It is the most beautiful piano I’ve played. I got it loaded into the computer and upon the first chord played I was transported into the happy place I haven’t been in quite some time sonically. I played for about 20 seconds and there it was….my next single. It had a childlike sound with a very intimate character, which just happened to tie into a Bible reading I’d had a couple days before when Jesus said ”  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Perfect! And it reaffirmed for me that I must do my best to please my Father in Heaven especially when things don’t go as planned. Yes, easier said than done but this has become my next offering. I would love to hear your stories of “Plan B” and how it shaped your relationship with Him. I will be posting more video and updates until release of this very unique and intimate song. As always, may my words and notes be a blessing to you!

Rhon

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Euphonic & String Parts to “Like A Child” c. Rhon Van Erman 2018

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“Abide With Me” Now Available!

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Amazon, Christian, Christian Music, Classical Music, Crucifixion, Faith, God's Word, Google+, Guitar, Hymns, iTunes, Jazz, Jesus, Music, Music Blog, Presbyterian, Songwriting, The Bible, The Cross

Announcing my latest Single for the ongoing project #HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar is now available! “Abide With Me” is now on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, and all other major music retailers. There are links below to listen, purchase, and share or you can Click this link – Newsletter – for the story behind this release as well as artwork and more. I pray that this release is a blessing to you!

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Hymns For Solo Acoustic Guitar Webpage

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Release Date 1/29/2018 for “Abide With Me”

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One week from today my 2nd release for #HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar will be available worldwide!

The 2nd release is “Abide With Me” and will feature a stark guitar tuning that weaves through an emotional ride of several styles. This Hymn is a standard song that speaks truth and peace to the soul and I am very excited about this version.

I have included the Artwork for this release in this Blog Post so be on the lookout for this picture one week from today.

All my Newsletter subscribers get all release details, videos, artwork, and more before Social Media. You can sign up here Newsletter Sign Up to get the Newsletter delivered to your email inbox so sign up today!

Your prayers of blessing for this release are appreciated!

Blessings,

Rhon Van Erman

• iTunes 
• www.rhonvanerman.com 
• #HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar – Webpage
• Spotify 
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It’s Live! #AccordingToThyGraciousWord

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Acoustic Guitar, Christian, Christian Music, Classical Music, Facebook, Faith, God's Word, Google+, Guitar, Hymns, HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar, iTunes, Jesus, Music, Music Blog, Presbyterian, Recording, Songwriting, The Bible, The Cross

Today is Release Day! My first “Hymn For Solo Acoustic Guitar” is available digitally at all major retailers and streaming services. This is a day I’ve been looking very forward to because of one of the great benefits of this release is – Peace from the chaos. 

In a time where we have busied ourselves with whatever we can crunch into 24 hours that seems important at the time, we are losing one of the most important things to our health, well being, and eternity – Quiet Time. 

It it my hope that the Hymn “According To Thy Gracious Word” will make you pause even for 2:40 of your life to reflect, reset, and focus on what’s most important. Even though music is what I do for a living, the power of these great old Hymns has been very moving in their creation. A time of purpose, re-dedication, and taking in what is now.

Let me know how this song blesses you. You can email me at rockin@rhonvanerman.com. There will be a “Behind The Music” video soon and more releases in the coming months. There are links below to some of the major digital retailers and Spotify. Other companies will be added in the coming days. As always, thanks for listening and supporting my music!

Blessings,

Rhon

iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/according-to-thy-gracious-word-single/id1296625188 

CD Baby – https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/rhonvanerman5 

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/user/rhonve/playlist/0KdY4Ah7dDhtYIMCwFU1mo

Website – http://www.rhonvanerman.com/Hymns-For-Solo-Acoustic-Guitar.html http://www.rhonvanerman.com/Hymns-For-Solo-Acoustic-Guitar.html 

 

 

#HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar

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Yep, that’s a hashtag. A virtual way of following all the releases, videos, photos, and more for the singles I’m about to release digitally. I’ve even started a special page on my website dedicated to this release here – Hymns For Solo Acoustic Guitar. So we’ll call this a virtual CD. There will be new Hymns released about every 60 days or less in an ongoing project that I hope will add peace, clarity, and a fresh listening experience for you! Please bookmark, share on social media, and add these songs to your playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and more! And if you’re a bit nostalgic, you can buy each track too! I will be creating a video soon about the story behind this project.

The first Hymn will be “According To Thy Gracious Word”. A hymn that we sing A Capella quite often at Presbyterian Chapel of The Lakes Church. The guitar is tuned differently to give a Celtic drone with the melody being played at the same time. The dynamic starts low and builds to the 3rd verse with an intimate verse 4 that builds to a harmonic peak. It was quite cool to arrange! The release date for this first Hymn is Thursday November, 2nd and will be available on all digital retailers and streaming services.

One of the unique qualities about this adventure is I’m doing it all from start to finish. Like cooking from scratch. The arranging, recording, mastering, artwork, copyrighting, licensing, upload, and PR! (I’m tired already!) Not so I can wave my flag, and not only to keep costs to a minimum (although that’s awesome!), it keeps everything real, like it is in Church when we sing it, or when I sit back in the Lazy-Boy and put in my earbuds to just listen and get two minutes and thirty-nine seconds of peace! This allows me to be even closer to God because I’m laying everything in His hands on these releases. That…is the place I need to be!

I truly hope this music will be a blessing to you and hope that you will write to me and let me know your thoughts. Here’s my email rockin@rhonvanerman.com 

As always thanks for reading and listening and blessings to you!

– Rhon Van Erman  www.rhonvanerman.com

 

 

“In The Quiet” art work

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In my previous post I spoke about the meaning and creation of the song “In The Quiet”. The process to find the right image for this song was a difficult one, mainly due to the fact that there weren’t cameras back in Jesus’ time. Quite honestly, I’m thankful for that. In the search for the best image I kept coming back to not just Jesus himself but, the Cross. The symbol by which he will always be remembered. So there it was. In this particular image the visual is fairly gloomy but with a bit of light in the back round to add to the emotion of the song in which there is tension and release, anguish and hope. I believe this art work aligns perfectly with the upcoming release of the song “In The Quiet”. The release date is Friday, March 20th, 2015. It will be available worldwide on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and http://www.rhonvanerman.com There is also a new page on my website In The Quiet dedicated to the release of this song. Just click the italicized title in the previous sentence. May this release be a blessing to all of you.

– Rhon

What Would A Singing Angel Do To You?

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It’s here! A month of celebration and reflection upon one of the greatest events to happen in History. The tree, decorations, Church, family parties, shopping, going and going and…..numb….”I’ll be glad when this is over so I can”….

Ugh! What happened? Would an Angel walking in your downtown singing “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” put it all back into perspective? Would the general public even notice, or think “That’s one of those weird people who say Merry Christmas”.

I embarked upon the recording of a Christmas CD in 2013 in a bit of a scurry. However, once I got started, doing an all instrumental album (yes I still call them that) allowed the Spirit of the songs to come forward and let my soul breathe a bit. To ponder on “The Reason” for the celebration.

This is the first of five blog posts that will feature a video/song from the Christmas The Reason CD.  My main objective was to create a work of songs that would impart contemplation. One of the cool things with the type of video I’ve created, is that you can read this while listening. So you can push play on the video and scroll down and read. This will be an “inside the music” perspective of why I decided on these particular songs and what they mean to family, friends, fans, and myself.  What is my reaction and participation to this event? One of my favorite times to listen to this CD is late at night when everyone is asleep, close my eyes, and let the tension of the world calm down. Something we all can use a bit of.

I also hope that you will leave comments not only about the music, but your thoughts and experiences from this most wonderful time of the year. I have played thousands of songs and “gigs” in my life but the greatest and most fulfilling notes are the ones I offer to the One who gives the notes. Please share this with your friends, family, and others, so we may be better connected in this gift we call music.

Merry Christmas!

– Rhon  (email me at rockin@rhonvanerman.com)

“As Close As You Will Get”

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Risks, you take them everyday. No risk, no reward. Some small, some take a lot of give. Those who give, get.

There comes a point in the heat of the moment that you have to take a chance. Deciding on a relationship, a dream to chase, a job change. Not a blind leap, but a leap of faith. When you don’t know the outcome and you wish you had a sign. But sometimes breathless, you have to choose. This could be it. Because, “this moment just might be, as close as you will get, this side of heaven.”

These are lyrics and thoughts taken from the writing of the song “This Side Of Heaven” from the Revolution CD. I hope that this song will be an inspiration to “live” your days and not wait until it’s too late. And in addition, to be able to say if it didn’t work out that you gave your all and have no regrets!

The lyrics to the entire song can be read from my website here – Lyrics to “This Side Of Heaven”

Thanks for reading. Blessings

Rhon

http://www.rhonvanreman.com

“She Cries Love” for #ThrowBackThursday

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Hard to believe I can use the song “She Cries Love” for a Throw Back Thursday feature but this song has been in release for 18 years next month, which I think puts it into the aforementioned category as well as makes me not feel 20 anymore!

This song was released in November of 1996 and is from my first CD that is self-titled. This was back in the ages when we were using what is called ADAT, a tape based digital format for recording, that was “cutting edge” for it’s time and the CD was still in it’s infancy. My, my, how far we’ve come in such a short time! As far as the throw back goes, back then there were only huge, rest on your shoulder types of video cameras. Or at least, a hand held 8 mm cam that was a bit awkward to negotiate. So for this #TBT I’m using the CD cover pic as a static image and letting the song play in the back round of the video to give it that “older” vibe, and besides, I just didn’t have the gear or budget it would’ve taken 18 years ago to make a video like the award winning “Revolution” video done in 2013. The cool thing with new technologies is that I will be able to upload all the songs to YouTube from this CD so you can listen to the songs in their entirety! If you have a YouTube account please add them to your playlist. And if you haven’t purchased them, all the songs are available on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and at http://www.rhonvanerman.com

“She Cries Love” was written in third person about falling in love and doing everything you can to make it happen, keep it happening, and not getting your heart broken along the way. The focus is a from a woman’s perspective, but as we well know, it takes two to tango and make it work. So this song can relate to either gender. My main writing influence for this song musically is the band Journey. Their sound is something I naturally gravitate to.

Sit back on your Thursday and watch, listen, and reminisce. And if you have this CD (record), or saw me perform it live, leave me a comment and share your memory!

– Rhon

If You Were My Guitar

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Guitar, Music, Music Blog, Music Video, Rhon Van Erman, Riffs, Rock, Rock Guitar, This Side Of Heaven, YouTube

Well Hi There!
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted so I thought I’d give you a little clip of a video I did on my iPhone via my guitar’s headstock (it’s the end of the neck where the tuner thingys are).
This will give you a perspective of what I see when I play notes and what might be going through my head at the time. Yes…sometimes I’m thinking about food : ) The guitar is tuned for the song “This Side Of Heaven” which is very whacked out but fun.
Thanks for reading and watching!